Improvement in adjustable cot-bedsteads



No. 219,264. Patented Sept. 2,1879.

WITNESSES: INVENTURS:

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N. PEFERS, FHOTO-LITHOGRAPKER WASHlNGTON. n C

JOSHUA B. HOWE AND STEPHEN PERRY, OF 'READSBOROUGH, VERMONT;

SAID PERRY ASSIGNOR TO SAID HOWE.

IMPROVEMENT IN ADJUSTABLE COT-BEDSTEADS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 219,264, datedSeptember 2, 1879; application filed June 3, 1879,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOSHUA B. HOWE and STEPHEN PERRY, each ofReadsborough, in the county of Bennington and State of Vermont, havejointly invented a new and useful Improvementin AdjustableGot-Bedsteads, or similar supports for the person, and of whichinvention the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawlngs.

The primary object of this invention is to produce very strong, compact,cheap, and durable devices, by a pair of which the sections of acot-bedstead, lounge, or similar support for the person can be securelyjointed together, and quickly and securely adjusted and retained invarious positions in respect to each other.

To that end we make each of said devices with two arms, lapped andpivoted together near one end, and adapted to be firmly fastened to theusual side rails of the head and body sections of an adjustablecot-bedstead or lounge, and form the lapping part of one of said armswith ratchet-teeth, and of the other with a stop near saidratchet-teeth, and combine therewith a pawl having two teeth, onearranged to engage with the said ratchet-teeth and the other with thesaid. stop, both at the same time, and thereby strongly lock or retainthe two arms in whatever inclined position they shall be adjusted; andwe produce a very neat, strong, and durable adjustable cot-bedstead orlounge by uniting the usual head and body sections thereof by a pair ofthe said improved adjusting devices.

In the aforesaid drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cotbedstead or lounge which embodies this invention. Fig. 2 is aperspective view, on a larger scale, of one of the pair of devices bywhich the head and body sections of the bedstead or lounge areadjustably secured together. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the same device,with dotted lines indicating its straightened and folded positions. Fig.4 is a plan of the upperedge, and Fig. 5 a plan of the lower edge, ofthe same device. Figs. 6 and 7 are views, on a larger scale, of thedouble-toothed end part of the pawl in the same device.

Like parts are marked by like letters in the different figures.

A is the main or body section, and B the head section, of a cot-bedsteador lounge. 0 and D are two plate-like arms that are adapted to besecured to the side rails c and f of the said body and head sections.The arms (3 and D lap at one end, and are secured together by a pivot,g. The lapping end part of the arm 0 is formed with a ratchet tooth orteeth, h, and the adjacent end part of the arm D is formed with a stop,6. nished with a pawl, J, which is secured to that arm by a pivot, k,and has at its acting end a tooth, l, arranged and adapted to engagewith the ratchet tooth or teeth It on the part 0, and also has, at thesame end, another tooth, m,

arranged in the reverse direction to that of the tooth l, and adapted toengage with the stop 'i on the part D at the same time that the tooth Zengages with either of the teeth h.

The pawl J is preferably made with a handle, n, by which the pawl can beby hand conveniently engaged with and disengaged from the teeth handstop 6, while a spring, 0, constantly tends to keep the pawlinengagement with the same stop and teeth.

The parts 0 and D, with the pawl J, allconstructed and pivoted togetheras above described, can be adjusted in respect to each other in inclineddirections, as shown in full lines in the drawings, in a straightposition, as indicated by dotted lines at z in Fig. 3, and in foldedcondition, as represented at 1 in the same figure; and those partsconstitute an improved device which is to be made in right and leftpairs, by which the right and left side rails of the body and the heador back sections of a bedstead, lounge, chair, or equivalent support forthe person, can be'adjustably and firmly secured together. or itsequivalent having its head and body sections jointed and securedtogether by a pair of such adjustable devices is an improved article ofmanufacture.

In the cot-bedstead or lounge shown in Fig. l the adjacent ends of theside rails e andf of the head and body sections will abut against eachother when the headsection shall be turned down into the plane of thebody-sec The arm D is also fur- A cot-bedstead UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE} tion, and will thereby, in connection with the pivoted parts 0and D, firmly sustain the headsection in that position, but so that thehead-- section, can be readily folded over upon the body-section, forconvenient stowage and transportation.

1t is not new to secure the head'section to the body-section in abedstead or lounge by pivot-joints furnished with concentricratchetteeth and pivoted pawls, whereby the headsection can be adjustedin inclined positions, but so that the down ward pressure of theheadsection in such inclined positions must be borne by the pivots ofthe pawls, which pivots, with their supports, must therefore, in suchcases, be very large and strong to prevent being broken under the greatstrain of supporting the head-section when the bedstead or lounge is inuse.

We obviate that defect by our present invention, wherein the tooth m onthe pawl J necessarily engages with the stop i on the part 1) at andduring the same time that the other tooth, l, on the same pawl engageswith a ratchet-tooth, h, on the part 0, whereby the two parts 0 and Dare locked or held together more securely, and the main strain ofthereby supporting the inclined head-section of the bedstead or loungeis limited to the short part,

17, of the pawl between its two teeth, l and m,

and injurious strain upon the other parts of the pawl, its pivot is, andthe supports therefor is prevented.

What we claim as our invention is l. The device consisting of thecombination of the two parts 0 and D, united by a pivot, g, andrespectively formed with the ratchetteeth h and stop i, and the pawl J,having the two reversely-directed teeth I and m, adapted and arranged toengage at the same time with the said ratchet-teeth and stop,substantially as described.

2. A cot-bedstead or lounge havingits body and head sections A and Badjnstably secured together by a pair of devices, each having two parts,(1 and D, pivoted together and respectively formed with theratchet-teeth h and stop 1', and furnished with a pawl, J, having twoteeth, I m, adapted and arranged to simultaneously engage with the saidstop and ratchet-teeth, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we hereunto set our hands, in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses, this 29th day of May, 1879.

J. B. HOWE. STEPHEN PERRY.

Witnesses:

J. P. HALLER, S. E. HALL.

